While corporations are rapidly adopting CASE tools to build business applications, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate among the offerings. Many CASE tools boast flashy graphical interfaces and claim support for the entire life cycle. Others tout code-generation capabilities, support for reverse-engineering and project-management facilities.

To match the tool to the needs of your organization, look for something that will give you the most bang for the buck. As summarized in the figure, this is achieved by tools that address the following criteria: